If we were to try to personify grind it would undoubtedly be Sloth from the Goonies – albeit scary looking and menacing on the surface, it’s actually fairly basic and ultimately harmless. Even boring sometimes, due to its cut and paste formula – endless blast beats, cookie monster vocals and no song duration longer than two minutes allowed. Seattle four-piece Theories have managed to take this seemingly two-dimensional genre and breathe new life into it on their debut ‘Regression’ – an ironic title, given how progressive they’ve managed to make grindcore sound.
Differing from the usual mindless blasts associated with this kind of music, you can actually hear the intricacy of the song writing on every track on this record. They’re not quite as vapid as your usual run of the mill grind bands and add elements of death metal, often giving the occasional nod to the likes of Aborted and Misery Index. The guitar work on each song is incredibly well thought out – packed full of groove, even becoming thrashy in places. There’s an eclectic mix of sounds on this album preventing it from ever becoming monotonous.
Packing substance in spades, ‘Regression’ is a memorable first effort and one that will see Theories soar to heights their fellow genre buddies could only ever dream of. They possess a rare versatility and a well crafted ferocity that makes it almost frightening to think of what they could accomplish with album number two. Regressive this most certainly is not.
(7/10 Angela Davey)
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